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City attorney needs 3 weeks to find email from assistant city attorney August 22, 2022
Michigan's Freedom of Information Act requires each public body to appoint a FOIA coordinator to handle FOIA requests. For the City of Lansing, the FOIA coordinator is the city attorney's office. A year or so ago, the City implemented an online, automated system for submitting and tracking requests. It is here on the City's website. You need to set up an account with your email address and a password, then you can submit requests and see your whole request history, including actions taken and the materials provided in response. But the work of handling the requests is still done by the city attorney's office.
I submitted a request on August 11 for an email that was quoted in a November 17, 2020 email from former Development Office director Donald Kulhanek (now retired) to Portia McGoy of HUD. He said the email was from an assistant city attorney. It had some unkind things to say about Lansing citizen Tamara Arend, whose house was ruined by Scott Frederickson Construction when he did an disastrous job of replacing her roof. It was done through a Homeowners Rehabilitation program administered by the Development Office and financed by HUD.
As I said in my August 11 story, Kulhanek says that a November 19, 2019 inspection revealed nothing wrong with Tammie's roof and no sign that it was currently leaking. He concealed the fact that it did leak initially and four months after the roof was installed, water burst through the ceiling and soaked floors, walls and insulation. He also doesn't mention that at that November 19, 2019 inspection - which Kulhanek attended - the air inside the home smelled so bad from mold that he had to step outside for air.
He then attempts to discredit Tammie, apparently wanting HUD to think she is crazy and not to be believed; that the problems with the roof are a figment of her imagination. He says "We’ve also learned she received utility assistance in 2019. She’d had previous meeting(s) with HRCS and the Mayor’s Office, and met directly with Mayor Schor." Then he says "I came across the following email from an assistant city attorney which summed up Ms. Arend’s activities pretty accurately:"
This unnamed assistant city attorney didn't get her facts straight. The dead tree wasn't in Tammie's yard, it was in the next door neighbor's yard. She was not responsible for removing it and she was concerned that varmints were living in the rubble and that they could cause diseases, one of which was Leptospirosis, not leprosy. In fact, her dog did contract this disease and was kept at a veterinary hospital for a week. She spoke about the issue at a council meeting in 2015 and followed up with an email.
In my August 11 FOIA request, I asked for "a copy of the email from an assistant city attorney that Donald Kulhanek referenced and quoted from in his 11/17/2020 email to Portia McGoy of HUD" and I attached a copy the Kulhanek's email to McGoy. Today I received a request for a 10-day extension. Normally, the public body has to respond to a FOIA request in 5 business days, but they may request a 10-day extension. They've promised a response by September 2.
But why would the city attorney need 15 business days to find an email sent by an assistant city attorney? It is in the Sent folder of that assistant city attorney. Or the Inbox of Donald Kulhanek. Shouldn't be difficult.
Donald Kulhanek, an attorney, once worked in the city attorney's office.
This isn't the first time they've had trouble finding stuff. Tammie Arend says that before her application for Homeowners Rehabilitation program was approved in April 2018, Dennis Graham of the City's Development Office came to her house and performed a complete inspection. I requested a copy of the inspection report and they couldn't find it. They acknowledged that the inspection was done only after I pointed out that it was mentioned in a letter to Tammie from Donald Kulhanek in which he said "At the time of your application [April 2018], you complained that your roof was leaking. Dennis Graham from our office inspected the house and agreed the roof needed to be replaced." But they still couldn't come up with the report and did not offer a reason why. I think it was because it would have shown that Tammie's house was in very good condition before sole-bidder Frederickson got the contract to replace her roof and worked his magic on it.
Previous stories on Tammie's situation:
Send comments, questions, and tips to stevenrharry@gmail.com or call or text me at 517-730-2638. If you'd like to be notified by email when I post a new story, let me know.
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